Reports: Cohen Told Lawyer To Ask Trump For Pardon

Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, testifies before the House Oversight and Reform Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 27, 20...Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, testifies before the House Oversight and Reform Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 27, 2019. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)MORE LESS

Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis told two news outlets on Wednesday that the former Trump attorney reached out for a pardon through a representative last year, contradicting Cohen’s own testimony.

The Washington Post reported that the effort took place in April 2018, but before FBI agents raided Cohen’s apartment, hotel room, and office in New York City. Yet the Wall Street Journal reported that it occurred “weeks after federal agents raided his properties.”

In either case, Davis’ remarks appear to contradict his client’s testimony last week before the House Oversight Committee — Cohen said that he had “never asked for” a pardon from President Trump.

“They had been dangling it for a while, and it was a constant refrain,” Davis told the Washington Post, referencing a potential pardon. “So Michael had his attorney reach out to Rudolph W. Giuliani.”

Cohen’s attorney at the time was Stephen Ryan, who was “working alongside” Trump’s legal team to review whether documents seized in the FBI raids were subject to attorney-client privilege, the Journal reported.

While the reports suggest that most of Trump’s legal team rejected the pitch for a pardon, Giuliani hinted that he might be game.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Giuliani saying that he tells lawyers who ask for pardons that “whatever happens in the future, that is his prerogative.”

Josh Kovensky
is an investigative reporter for Talking Points Memo, based in New York. He previously worked for the Kyiv Post in Ukraine, covering politics, business, and corruption there.